Book Review

Jarod King, the oldest of the trio of King brothers, may have his dream job as sheriff, but his personal life is anything but a dream. He married his high school sweetheart, thinking she was his true love, only to have her desert him for a life of drugs. His younger brother Josh’s best friend Lauren is his administrative assistant and she has no problem giving him grief when she needs to, but Jarod has no idea that Lauren has been in love with him since the day she first saw him when she was just a freshman in high school. Now that Jarod’s ex is dead, a long held secret has been dumped in his lap in the form of a daughter, and there is something funny going on with the drug dealings in town. Jarod’s Heart picks up where Jason’s Princess ended and focuses more on Jarod and Lauren. Author Elise Manion has blended a broken heart, a love for family, and an insecure beauty together to weave an amazing story.

Jarod’s Heart, being the second book in the series, starts where book one left off, so we still have some of Jason and Julie’s continuing story in this book, however, the focus is on Jarod and Lauren. We learn more of the history of everyone in this book, and the scars that run deep for both Jarod and Lauren. The one thing that just might heal them all is Jessica, the daughter Jarod never knew he had. Author Elise Manion again weaves the tough strong cop and his battle ready brothers into a story of romance and family values that will have you crying to the end! This is another amazing story about the King family. I am dying for the third story to come out!!

Looking for her Prince Charming has not been at the top of Julie’s to-do list. She is more worried about raising her teenage brother and providing a safe and comfortable home for him since their parents died. Her best friend, Josh, and his band of brothers, Jason and Jarod, have been there every step of the way, whether Julie liked it or not, but she has to admit that they have been exactly what her brother needed. What Julie has failed to see is that Jason has been in love with her since he first laid eyes on her when she was just a freshman in high school. Jason’s Princess is Julie and Jason’s story, and what happens when an old enemy comes back into town, determined to settle what he feels are old scores meant to harm Jason and Julie. Author Elise Manion builds a wonderfully complex story full of emotion and drama. Everything is contemporary and yet it will restore your faith in family values.

Jason’s Princess is the first book in what is set to be the King Brothers series. Although it is Jason and Julie’s story, you get to meet the whole family and start learning the history between Jarod and Lauren, and the amazing friendship between Julie, Lauren and Josh, as well as the bonds of brotherhood between the King boys. Author Elise Manion may build the King boys up to be tough, battle ready men, but there is a strong family bond, and parents that instilled in them the value of family and protecting those smaller and weaker, never being the bully, and looking out for others. This is an amazing story that had me laughing and crying the whole way through! It’s classified as young adult, but the main characters are 25 and up, so it’s really a great book for any reader.

Official Book Blurb:Aurora Teagarden is basking in the news of her pregnancy when disaster strikes her small Georgia town: four kids vanish from the school soccer field in an afternoon. Aurora’s 15-year-old brother Phillip is one of them. Also gone are two of his friends, and an 11-year-old girl who was just hoping to get a ride home from soccer practice. And then there’s an even worse discovery―at the kids’ last known destination, a dead body.

While the local police and sheriff’s department comb the county for the missing kids and interview everyone even remotely involved, Aurora and her new husband, true crime writer Robin Crusoe, begin their own investigation. Could the death and kidnappings have anything to do with a group of bullies at the middle school? Is Phillip’s disappearance related to Aurora’s father’s gambling debts? Or is Phillip himself, new to town and an unknown quantity, responsible for taking the other children? But regardless of the reason, as the days go by, the most important questions remain. Are the kids still alive? Who could be concealing them? Where could they be?

With Christmas approaching, Aurora is determined to find her brother…if he’s still alive.

I was delighted to learn that Ms. Harris was releasing another Aurora Teagarden mystery and she did not disappoint.

All the Little Liars begins where we left Aurora at the end of Poppy Done to Death; newly discovered pregnant, newly engaged to Robin (they have quickly married before confirming the pregnancy with a doctor and telling their family and friends their happy news), and newly taking guardianship of her half-brother, Phillip.

Ms. Harris expertly directs the reader to look at every angle of the mystery before the final reveal, with plenty of twists and turns along the way. Emotionally, we are swept up in Aurora’s joy, confusion and fears. To add insult to injury, Phil and Betty Jo Teagarden show up on her doorstep to cause even more angst, and forces Robin to show us his angry side. Gotta love a man who defends his woman.

This read is clean, i.e. no gratuitous foul language, sex, or violence. In other words, it is perfectly safe to recommend to my mother.

My only complaint with All the Little Liars is its abrupt ending, and unanswered resolution regarding Phillip’s future living arrangements with Aurora and Robin. The assumption is that he will stay and, my hope, is that we will find the answer in a future book. *crossing my fingers*

My final score for All the Little Liars by Charlaine Harris is 4 ½ hearts. Ms. Harris, I eagerly await your next book!